Idris Elba Will Play a Criminal Cat in the Increasingly Bizarre ‘Cats’ Movie Musical

Idris Elba may not get the chance to be the next James Bond, but his filmography will reflect a much greater accomplishment. In the span of just a few years Elba will have played not one, but two villainous cats.

After voicing Shere Khan in Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, Elba will put on a new set of evil paws. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he’s in talks to join the cast of the Cats movie musical, a thing that is somehow real and not a prolonged fever dream. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical – once the single longest running musical in Broadway history from 1997 to 2006 – is getting a big screen adaptation from director Tom Hooper (Les Miserables). The already-announced cast includes Taylor Swift, Sir Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, and James Corden.

The musical follows a tribe of “Jellicle cats” who must make the “Jellicle choice” to decide which feline will be chosen to ascend into the “Heavenside Layer” and be reborn. (No clue, don’t ask me.) But here’s where the super suave, super cool Elba fits into this increasingly bizarre project: he’ll play Macavity, a mastermind criminal cat and the primary antagonist in the musical.

Just to paint a full picture of Elba’s character, he’s bad cat with a lot of nicknames, like “The Mystery Cat,” “Hidden Paw,” and “The Napoleon of Crime.” Idris Elba, the Feline Napoleon of Crime! Need more? Great! Here’s a clip from the “Macavity” number that introduces him and his escape artist skills from the Broadway show. As Vanity Fair notes, Swift may be one of the cats singing his introduction. Peep Macavity’s arrival at the 2:43 mark and just try to imagine Elba in that wacky cat suit and wig: